


Hanabi

by CosmicPeppermintLatte



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fireworks, Fluff, Food, Japanese Culture, M/M, Obon, Summer Festival, bonodori
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 23:26:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4281990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicPeppermintLatte/pseuds/CosmicPeppermintLatte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After making shaved ice for hundreds of people in the midst of a hot summer night, Marco leads Jean to a quiet happy evening just for the two of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hanabi

Summer meant Obon season.  Obon meant hot humid nights stuffed into a yukata making kakigoori for hundreds of people that were crammed into the manicure space that their humble temple had to offer.  Jean didn’t hate it exactly.  He and his family had been members of the Shinganshina temple for as long as he could remember and he’d always come to their summer festivals.  It was different when he was a child.  Back then he’d play the games they had to offer; attempt to catch a goldfish with a rice paper net, hunt the toy bugs in the big bin of paper, shoot a prize off the shelf with air rifles that never shot straight. 

He’d made friends with Eren back then.  He and his sister Mikasa were part of the temple too.  He’d see them every year and Eren would try to best Jean in everything they did, being it catching the red ball on a kendama or seeing who could eat the most andagi without getting sick.  Sometimes Jean felt nostalgic about those times when he saw the eager faces of the children whom practically threw their money at him while he poured syrup over their shaved ice.  But all he had to do was look up and he could see Eren in his obnoxious blue happi coat tossing yakisoba in a huge wok and Mikasa handling customers.

 The three of them talked a lot less now, ever since Jean sprouted his awkward crush on Mikasa when they were thirteen.  It really wasn’t his fault, she was beautiful.  Especially now, she had on a light purple yukata that framed her body just right with a brilliant red obi that matched her lips.  The flower pin in her hair was the same as the flowers that flowed down her legs…  If only.

“Jean!”

Jean’s eyes snapped up from his ice machine and were met with a nose full of freckles and a face full of cotton candy.

He couldn’t help but smile back.  “Enjoying yourself Marco?”

“I am.  I can’t believe you come here every year I’m really missing out.” 

Marco gave another smile before taking a full on bite out of his cotton candy stick.  Marco looked pretty perfect too if Jean was honest, but then again he pretty much always did no matter the occasion.  He was dressed for the weather with his usual cargo shorts and fitted tank top that had a dark blue happi thrown on but left open.  Marco was handsome in every aspect of the word.  He was tall and toned, with the body of an athlete, big brown eyes and a Disney prince smile.  Yeah, definitely on par with Mikasa.  Jean knew Marco through school.  They were both in literature club.  Every Tuesday after class they’d hang out in the club room and talk about everything from books to parties and every Wednesday and Friday Jean would sneak over to the track field and watch Marco practice with the school’s track team.  He wasn’t a stalker, they were friends after all.

Jean noticed the crowds at the food stalls finally start to die down.  He could see Eren cleaning up after his last batch of noodles and Mikasa getting ready to close for the night.  Usually the main booths closed first whilst the sweets stayed open a little later or at least until people started filtering out after the fireworks show. 

Jean looked back at Marco while dealing with his steady line.  He seemed perfectly content standing there off to the side sucking the last bits of sugar off his stick.  Now there’s an image he’d file away for later.

Jean flicked a bit of ice at the back of his neck.  Marco yelped causing the two girls at the front of Jean’s line to giggle.

“Wow some friend you are.”  He whined, swatting at the back of his neck.

“I am a fantastic friend.  You see, you looked hot over there so I figured I’d cool you off a little.”  Jean handed the girls their kakigoori with a grin.  They’d left snickering to each other. 

Jean caught Marco smiling at him.

“What?”

Marco shrugged.  “Oh nothing…  So uh fireworks are stating soon.  Do you wanna watch them together?”

Jean grunted swiping fallen ice off his table.  “I’d love to but I have to keep the stand open until after they’re finished.  The only downside to working here, but they pay me in free ice.  You want one by the way?  You like strawberry right?”

Marco’s entire face lit up and he nodded.  Jean turned away from him and grabbed his paddle to scoop the ice.  Why did Marco have to look so cute?  Why did he have to smile like that it wasn’t fair to the rest of the world. 

He may or may not have added a little extra syrup before he handed Marco the cup avoiding any eye contact.

“Wow it’s so pretty!  Thank you Jean!”

Without looking he knew Marco was smiling that dumb gorgeous smile he could hear it in his voice. 

“Don’t mention it.”

“Hey Jean I’ll uh, be right back okay?”

He quirked an eyebrow.  “Where are you going?”

“Just go shave your ice I promise I’ll be back in like, ten minutes!” Before he could say anything else Marco was jogging away from him with his spoon in his mouth and ice cup in hand.

Jean shook his head.  It slowed down a lot after that.  All the food booths were closing their doors and he could hear the echo of the taiko drums thumping to the melody of the final ondo of the night.  His line trickled into just a few more customers before he could hear the loud booms of fireworks being set off.  Once the last of his customers left he could see the crowd down the walkway admiring the sky lights.  Jean sighed and wiped down everything in his stand and rested his chin in his hand.  The trees made it impossible for him to see any of the fireworks aside from the bright flashes of color that tinged everything around.  Eren was probably up on the hill behind the big lantern with Mikasa and whatever friends they’d bumped into.  Marco was probably there too…

A light tap on his shoulder startled him out of his thoughts.  It was Petra one of the other members who had been selling manju a few booths down.

“Good evening Jean!  It’s so nice that you’re helping out again this year we really appreciate it you know.  It’s a shame you have to miss the fireworks though.”  Her smile was warm and genuine and it made Jean feel a little better.

“Nah its okay, I don’t really mind.  It’s not like I’ll never see fireworks again.”

She grinned back and nudged his shoulder.  “That’s the spirit!  Well anyways, I brought you some manju for your trouble.”  She handed him a small box and leaned up to pat his head.  “You look very dashing by the way.  I’m sure you’re wooing all your customers tonight!”  

He scoffed.  “Thanks mom.”

She tossed a thumbs up at him before she returned to her booth.  About five minutes passed and there were still no signs of Marco.  He must be watching the fireworks.  He didn’t know why that disappointed him so much.  Marco had asked if he wanted to watch them so of course Marco wanted to see them.  That shouldn’t make him upset, he had to man the booth right?  Still a sigh escaped his lips.

Finally the booms died out and all the bodies huddled close to each other started to disperse.  Once again a line formed with all the people who wanted a treat for the way home.  After about twenty minutes business slowed back to a crawl with still no sign of Marco.  Maybe he’d gone home after the show.  There was probably a text from him he couldn’t check yet, that must be it.  Reluctantly he closed up his stand about fifteen minutes later.  The vendors that were still scattered about the walkway shouted “Good work today!” and “Be careful going home!” back and forth at each other.  Jean made himself one giant cup of rainbow kakigoori before he stepped out.  He stuffed his paper fan in the back of his obi as he walked down the path leading off the grounds.  The wooden sandals on his feet were starting to hurt, maybe he’d just find somewhere to sit and eat his shave ice before going home.

“Jean!”

He spotted Marco waving at him and running down the nearly deserted pathway with a plastic bag in hand.  He was out of breath when he reached Jean stopping to rest his hands on his knees.

“Sorry-“he panted “I took so long.  I didn’t realize the nearest convenience store was so far away.”

“Ha?  Why did you go to the convenience store?  Weren’t you watching the fireworks?”

Marco laughed.  “What’s the point of watching the fireworks when the person I wanted to watch them with wasn’t there?”

Jean could feel his face getting hot.  Did he really just say that?

“Besides, I got something just as good I promise.”

Before he could open his mouth Marco was ushering him back toward the temple.  They passed the sidewalk that held the rows of booths and headed toward the now empty courtyard that had held the bon dance.  The red and white lanterns that hung from strings were out now and you could still make out the outlines of the taiko drums a top the tower in the center.  It looked so peaceful.  Not even an hour ago hundreds of people were crowded into this space with music playing that could be heard for miles.  Now there were just the songs of the summer bugs to behold and the occasional bird looking for leftovers.  Marco walked them to the furthest corner.  The abundance of trees blocked out the brightness of the moon and made it hard to see.  Jean was starting to get nervous.

“Where um, are we going exactly?  Kind of getting hard to see don’t you think?”  He bit his lip when he felt fingers lightly circling his wrist.

“It’s just up here.  I saw a bench over hear earlier I swear.”

Jean let himself be pulled forward.  Thoughts were swimming through his head now.  What if Marco was planning to kill him?  No one would even find his body until tomorrow.  Or worse, what if Marco knew he liked him?  What if he was bringing him out here to let him down gently and not cause a scene?  What if Marco was just really showing him something?  Maybe he could make a move?  They were alone, Jean could kiss him right now and nobody would see it.  What if-

“There!  I knew it was here!”

Marco pulled him closer and set the bag down on the lone bench and turned to Jean.  “Okay now close your eyes.”

He did.  He could hear Marco going through the plastic bag and opening a box, the sound of a lighter clicking?  Oh god he was going to die.

“Okay open!”

His eyes were met with Marco crouching on the ground with a sparkler hanging between his fingers and a smile that the stars couldn’t even hold a light to.  He nearly dropped his half eaten ice rainbow but Marco didn’t seem very phased.

“I know it’s a little childish but I thought that since you couldn’t see the show we could just have some fireworks of our own.” 

There were fireworks going off alright, in his face, in his chest. 

“I LOVE IT!”  He blurted before he could stop himself.  Marco seemed to like his answer because he motioned him closer.

“I’m really glad!  I thought you might not like it or you’d be too tired or something.  I didn’t really think it through until I was halfway to the store so, sorry heh.”  The hand that wasn’t holding the sparkler scratched at his cheek a nervous tick Jean noticed.  Marco always had his hands near his face.

Jean crouched in front of him staring at the flickering fire.  “I appreciate it a lot actually.  I really did want to see the fireworks with you.  This is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me I think.”

He could see Marco’s eyes light up and suddenly every part of tonight was worth it.  “Really Jean?”  He nodded.  “Good because I’ll trade you some of these sparklers for your kakigoori.”

Jean snorted and nudged him with his foot.  He ended up giving Marco the rest of his kakigoori blushing slightly at the fact that Marco had no problems with using his spoon.  They took turns lighting sparklers and when Jean was on the last one he felt Marco pluck the fan from his back.

“Hey what’s that?”  Marco motioned to the box Jean had on the bench while he fanned his face.

“Oh right.  Petra gave me some manju from her booth want some?”

“Sure!  I must’ve walked right by them I love manju.  I bought some cold tea and the convenience store too how perfect!”

Once his sparkler went out Jean stood up and sat beside Marco on the bench opening the box on his lap.  Marco wedged a single green bottle between them.  They ate in silence while Jean studied the differences between the wooden geta on his own feet and the rubber slippers on Marco’s.

“This is really nice.”  Marco hummed breaking their silence.  Jean peaked at him out of the corner of his eye.  Marco was smiling up at the dim stars in the sky.  It was honestly too dark to tell but Jean swore he could see Marco’s cheeks get a shade darker.  “Jean I have to tell you something.”

Jean’s voice caught in this throat.  Oh hell here it comes, Marco knew.  He’d noticed Jean’s gaze started lingering too long to be friendly, or the fact that he couldn’t look Marco in the eye when he smiled at him.  Maybe he caught Jean at one of his track practices; there was literally no explanation for that except he was being a creep.  Jean braced himself for the worst.

“I um.”  Marco hesitated but then shook his head lightly.  “I hope we can still be friends after this.  I really don’t want to ruin that but I can’t not say anything anymore it’s killing me.”

Jean clenched his fists and held back a whimper.

“I just, I really like you Jean.  Not…  Just in a friendly way either…”

Jean’s eyes opened _.  Wait, what?_ His head shot up and he stared wide eyed at Marco.  His head was hung and his hands were closed just as tightly as Jean’s own.  He opened his mouth to say something but the words wouldn’t come out.

“I…  I’m sorry I just couldn’t hold it in anymore I had to say something.  I understand if-“

Where his words failed him his arms did not.  He lunged at Marco throwing his arms around his friend’s shoulders squishing the tea between them.

“I…  Me too Marco, god.  I really like you.  I really really like you.  I was so scared you’d noticed and were about to tell me off, oh my god.”

Marco physically deflated in his arms and started to vibrate with laughter.  “I hadn’t noticed actually, but wow Jean, how dare you like me I am so offended.”  He chuckled and rested his chin on Jean’s shoulder.

Jean pulled back and swatted Marco’s arm.  “Shut up that was a perfectly reasonable assumption.”

Marco bumped his shoulder with Jean’s and he retaliated by chugging the rest of Marco’s tea.  They sat together on that bench for another few minutes before they decided the air was too thick and it was too hot to not be in front of an electric fan any longer.  So they packed up and started heading out.

Jean sighed and stared at his feet as they walked.  “I’d hold your hand but my palms are gross and sweaty.”

Marco just laughed.  “Same.  I could kiss you instead or something.”

They stopped walking and Jean turned to face him.  “Or something…”

Marco leaned down slightly and brushed their noses together pausing just a moment before pressing his lips to Jean’s firmly.  The kiss was short and sweet and embarrassing for both of them.  They both pulled back with flushed cheeks and stupid smiles.  

Jean smiled down at their feet.  “Okay, so we doing all of this again tomorrow?”

Marco grinned and nodded.  “Yeah tomorrow.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this was actually part of Jeanmarco week 2015 day 6 Summer Loving. It turned into five pages so here we are. Also Obon usually lasts a few days so Jean's stuck shaving ice for a while. Also, I figured I should make a word key so here goes.
> 
> Hanabi: sparklers/fireworks  
> Obon/bon dance: Big festivals held in the summer to honor deceased family members with lots of dancing and food  
> Kakigoori: Shaved ice, snow cone, what ever you call it where you're from  
> yukata/happi: light traditional dress worn mainly now to festivals  
> andagi: okinawan doughnut similar to a hush puppy but sweet  
> manju: Japanese sweet filled with typically azuki bean paste or green tea or peanut butter or feelings  
> kendama: this terrible wood toy with a ball on a string that you try to balance the ball on and if you hit yourself it's painful  
> geta: wooden slippers  
> obi: the belt in which you tie your yukata shut  
> ondo: a type of music they play at bon dance, very loud, taiko drums are there
> 
> I’ve got a tumblr Feel free to talk to me!


End file.
